The Edge of the Nobody
by paradii
Summary: Riku meets a girl, she drives him to hell and back, and leaves his heart running up mountains. But he loves her, somewhere in him he has that feeling. He just hates to admit it. RikuxNaminé. Swearing, possible sexual scenes.
1. Chapter 1: The Girl

**A/N  
**Alright, here's the story. I've been MIA for a while, but now here's this. I'm hoping it does alright, because...well, I like it. And when I like things, I want them to succeed.  
**Disclaimer:  
**Believe me, if I owned any of the following, you would know.

_We hold onto a childhood that was never actually ours, because we hate the one society has chosen to give us._

* * *

"Riku, wake the fuck up!" Axel yelled into my right ear.  
I blinked my eyes open and stared daggers at my red-head flatmate. You see, Axel and I are parentless. It's not like they died or anything, it was a choice, an undeniably stupid one, but the both of us had made the decision while drunk, and considering how each of our parents were useless fucks anyway, we rented out the cheapest apartment available that was still in our district, and moved out the very next day. That was four months ago, and now I had grown to absolutely loathe the man.

"Why should I?" I moaned with the smallest amount of enthusiasm I couldn't muster up in me.

Axel leaned forward across the bed and flicked my earlobe. "Because we have school."

"You know, for someone who's been held back five times, you sure do like school."

I glanced up at him and he shrugged, his green eyes smoldered at me, his expression quickly turning into his own version of a pout. Now, let me get this into your head. Axel's pouts are hard to turn down, they really are. You know that moment when you scold your dog, it might just be a little tap on the rump, or a flick of their nose, but they always take it like you just ruined their whole world, I'm sure you know that moment, everyone does. Anyways, take that into mind, and reflect on the expression they have directly after that. They walk away with a tail between their legs, and just as they're about to leave whichever room you chose to be in at the time, they glance back, and the look on their stupid little dog faces, is just too much. It's like that, if Axel pouts, it's either something _really _important, or he _thinks _it's something really important. There's a difference , believe me. So don't hold it against me when I say that I caved, I always do, and he knows that. One of the many reasons for why I loathe the man.

"Seriously," I muttered as I pulled myself out of the miserable excuse for a bed I slept in, "Why should I go today?"

"Because it's the first day of the year, and you know how everyone treats you if you don't turn up." He replied.

I nodded knowingly, briefly reflecting on the previous year I had returned to school a day later than the rest of the student body. Axel smirked at me, obviously remembering it as well.

"You used to be such a wreck." He murmured while walking out of my bedroom.

I bounced up off the bed and meandered my way through the battlefield that was my floor. "That's what happens when the love of your life deserts you in an asshole of a town like this."

"Sure, love of your life. How many girls have you fucked since Kairi left?" He teased.

I winced at her name, then planted a firm smirk on my face. "No where near as much as the amount of guys."

"Faggot."

I grinned. "That's my name."

Axel turned and smacked me over the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" I growled.

"If you were really gay, you would've knocked me out for calling you a faggot." He said as we walked into the kitchen.

"I don't take offense to it. I'm bisexual and proud of it, whether other people take it as an insult doesn't concern me."

Axel put his arm over my shoulder and kissed my hair. "This is why we're flatmates isn't it. You just want me for my dick."

I chuckled. "Sure, Axel, you keep telling yourself that."

Axel pouted again, but didn't push the matter any further.

"You know, if somebody else would've seen this, they'd think you were the gay one, not me."

Axel smirked. "What if I am the gay one?"

I gasped. "There's only room for one gay here!"

There was a loud knocking on the door that interrupted our conversation. I glanced up and quickly moved as far from the front door as I could get.

"You're closest. You open it." I grinned.

Axel frowned. "You suck."

"Indeed I do, I suck often." I retorted.

Axel smirked and opened the front door, his favorite blonde walked in.

"Sup, dicks and dickettes." Roxas greeted us.

I smiled. "Nice to see you too, blondie."

Axel jumped up. "Now we can leave, come on!" He rushed over to me and grabbed my wrist then pulled me through the door. I watched Roxas chuckle as he followed the two of us out of the apartment complex and down to Axel's car. I raised my middle finger at him and he just laughed harder.

* * *

"How's life been treating you lately, Riku?" Roxas asked while we sat together in the cramped backseat of Axel's car.

"I saw you yesterday, how did I seem then?" I replied.

Roxas arched his eyebrow. "About the same as you do now."

"And how exactly is that?" I asked, legitimately curious as to how he thought I felt.

"You're being passive for one thing." Roxas muttered and glanced out the front of the car at the road. "Seem pretty depressed too. You're just not yourself."

I shrugged and looked out the window. "When was the last time I _was _myself?"

"When you were with Kairi?" Roxas suggested.

Axel glanced back. "How do you know you were yourself then? Maybe her leaving changed you into...you."

Roxas made a face at the red-head. "I don't like philosophical Axel...go away please."

Axel looked back again and smirked.

"Maybe you're right." I said. "Doesn't change the fact that it still hurts. _With-Kairi Riku_ was starting to grow on me."

"You were growing on yourself? That's disgusting."

I pushed Roxas playfully and he turned back with a grin on his face.

"Be careful." Axel warned. "I think it's his time of the month."

I growled quietly. "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I have a fucking period."

"How are we supposed to know that, we're not gay!" Axel said.

I arched my brow at him and smirked. "Are you sure? Cos' there are these moments where I'm just not sure about the two of you."

I saw both of them blush. There was no denying it, the two of them liked eachother. Now if only Sora and I could convince them of this, rather than Roxas immediately denying and continuously stating that he was in love with Xion, who, had absolutely no idea the blonde even existed.

* * *

Arriving at school at the beginning of the year was painful. Achingly painful. You now how earlier I mentioned Xion not knowing Roxas even existed, yeah, it's not because we're at the bottom of the metaphorical high school food chain, it's because we're at the top and Xion is at the bottom. She's at rock bottom. No one could get lower than her. It's not that she was a loser or anything, she was probably the coolest and cutest girl I had ever had the pleasure of having as an acquaintance. She chose to be there, she chose to stay out of the limelight. I admired and envied her because of that. Not to be smug or anything, but my charm and good looks void any possibility of me being able to do that. Roxas has tried plenty of times to become more than just an acquaintance with her, but she's not exactly jumping for the opportunity.

"Oh great, they're crowding around my car." Axel growled and rolled his window down slightly. Everyone immediately shot to the window and started yelling into the car. Axel knew he wouldn't need to yell the following sentence, people practically worshipped the three of them, any word spoken was like JC himself had appeared. "Get the fuck away from my car! I just got this hunk of rust painted!" He yelled out, his hoarse voice crackling like he had just drowned himself in whiskey and tobacco, which he most likely had. Everyone immediately stepped back like mother fucking hell would break loose if they didn't, which it probably would. Roxas slowly opened his door, afraid he was going to be molested the moment the bottom of his black leather boot touched the asphalt of the school parking lot.

"I got you, man. We can do this. Just smile, wave, and walk to the usual spot. We'll meet you there." I whispered in his ear. Roxas nodded and stepped out, a huge, utterly fake grin on his face.

"That kid can fake a smile like nobodies business." I admired.

Axel snorted. "Yeah, he can. Learnt from the best!" He chuckled.

I joined in and smirked. "Poor, poor boy. He was doomed the moment that head full of unnatural gravity-defying hair stepped into our AP Physics class."

"We've ruined him." Axel laughed.

"Feels good. Ruining a person's hope at ever being sane."

"Damn straight."

The two of us stepped out of the car at the same time, the metre gap between the car and crowd of people still evident. Axel locked his car and then we parted ways, causing the crowd of overbearing, needy students to become more confused than they ever could be. In the past the three of us had never split up. We stuck by each other through hell or high water, and now they each had to make a choice. Which way should they go? Follow the humorous silver-haired hunk, or the sarcastic yet dreamy red-head? I decided to let them rip each other apart over the dilemma, and used the opportunity to gap it. I ran through hallways with my hood up and my head down, literally stepping between people with less than a centimetre of space between my body and theirs. That's when I glanced up and noticed that someone ahead was glaring at me with a furious gleam in their eyes. I skidded to a halt, directly in front of aforementioned person.

"H-hello, Mister Kurai, Sir." I stuttered, realising fully well that I was in deep shit.

_And it's only the first day, oh goody. _

"Mister Strife, please call me Xemnas."

I cringed at the use of my surname, I had left that dusty old thing behind when I moved out. Being 18 and officially an adult had it's advantages. "Y-yes, Mister Kur-, Xemnas."

"Seeing as you've been here long enough, I want you to do something."

He wasn't asking if I wanted to do something, he was telling me that I would do it, regardless of what it was, and regardless of whether I wanted to or not. That's our principal for you.

"Couldn't you have asked Axel, he's been here longer than any of us." I mumbled, even though I knew that I would be the one to do whatever had been forced upon me. I followed him into his office, not looking up to even greet his receptionist. The glum expression on my face probably explained why I hadn't.

"Riku, I'd like you to show around the new student." Xemnas gestured to a girl, dressed in white sitting in the corner on a leather seat. She peeked up, her blonde hair falling slightly to the side, revealing the blue of her eyes. It took me a moment to register her sitting there, her face, the way she carried herself just seemed so...Kairi. I frowned but shook the thought from my head. Xemnas stood there waiting for me to say something, I parted my lips, but not a single noise came out.

"Are you okay Riku? You're looking pale." Xemnas murmured. "Look, I can get someone else to do it if it's that much of a hassle. But you'll get first period off."

I fought with my own thoughts, weighing up the pro's and con's. No matter how hard I tried, there was never a single con. I nodded and parted my lips once again. "It's fine." I said with the harshest voice I had.

Xemnas nodded. "Great. Naminé, this is Riku. He'll show you around."

"Thank you, Sir." She said, her voice was angelic, but forced. I could tell, I was good with those type of things. Friends like Axel and Roxas teach you how to recognize a lie, even a simple one such as a fake personality. She stood up and brought a bag with her. I noticed briefly that she was clutching a sketchbook to her chest and a pencil dancing between her fingers. Obviously she was ready to draw, whether she was standing beside a volcano that was ready to burst, or the water was crawling back into the ocean and preparing for a tsunami. The girl loved to draw, we had only been around each other for a mere thirty seconds and already I was picking her apart. Delving deep into the girl that resembled Kairi in more ways than I cared to count. I knew this was going to hurt me at some point, at the time, I knew, in the back of my mind, in the deepest parts of my being, I knew. But I was ignoring it. I was pushing that feeling back. At the moment, all that I _wanted _to have on my mind, was this girl.

"You like drawing?" I said in attempt to start a conversation.

She responded with a mumbled 'yes' and a slight nod.

"Cut the bullshit." I laughed. "I know you're faking this good girl thing, so what's your story glory? The only reason people come to this school is if their parents are broken drug-addicted fucks who waste their money on Mary Jane and cocaine. _Or, _which I'm guessing you're part of this category, you were kicked out of every other school in this damned district."

She looked up at me, the height difference mildly tolerable. "Well aren't you a people person." She said.

I smirked. "Welcome to the real world honey. If that seemed harsh, wait till you meet the rest of the student body."

We had walked into a hallway that still held a few students late for class. I cussed quietly under my breath. They were all girls, girls I recognised earlier that morning as part of the mob. Naminé looked up at me, obviously confused to my reaction, and attempt to hide behind her tiny body.

"What are you doing Ri-" My hand cupped over her mouth stopped the rest of the sentence from rolling off her tongue.

"Don't say a word." I whispered in her ear.

That's when all hell broke loose. They had heard, man did girls in this school have good hearing. They had heard my whisper, and almost simultaneously their heads snapped up in our direction. Naminé stepped back slightly and I took a deep breath and stood up from my feeble hiding spot.

"Hey girls." I smiled that devilish smile, I swear one of them almost fainted. She most definitely swooned. Naminé frowned at the girls who were clearly infatuated by my presence. They had caught me like I was a sick buffalo before a pride of bloodthirsty lions. I tried to smile and shuffle past, but they didn't let it happen. They moved in closer, the look on their faces definitely intent on haunting me for the rest of my miserable life, one of them literally licked their lips. I looked to my side, hoping, praying that Naminé would save me from this, but she wasn't there. I looked over the heads of the ever-approaching girls and saw the blonde on the other side of the hallway, leaning against a set of lockers and smirking. She had her sketchbook out and the pencil was swiftly moving across the paper. I glared at her, though she didn't see.

_She's drawing me like this. Wonderful._

"Look girls, it's great seeing you and all, but I'm sure we all have places to be, people to see. Don't want to be too late for class do we?" I joked with an awkward smile.

They all pouted but turned and left reluctantly. I pushed myself away from the locker they had trapped me against and walked over to Naminé, she looked amused and the gleam in her eyes was closer to ecstatic than the confusion it had voluntarily replaced. She turned the sketchbook to face me and I eyed the drawing, searching for any way to criticise it. Truth is, it looked amazing, despite the fact that she had literally drawn my likeness into a sick buffalo, and the girls were lionesses.

"Cute." I muttered before walking off.

She walked behind me slowly, still drawing in that sketchbook of hers, no doubt refining her previous work of art.

"If you follow me around all day drawing every time something like that happens, you're pages would be gone before lunchtime." I called back.

She appeared at my side. "Who said I wanted to follow you around all day."

I didn't say anything in return, it was true, I had assumed she would be one of the many girls that kissed the ground at my feet, simply because my feet had been there. It was refreshing to say the least, finally there was someone who didn't care. Kairi was like that too, mostly because we had come into this school together, and nobody dared to make any obvious moves on me, or Kairi. Now that aforementioned auburn-haired girl was gone, the girls were goo-goo for me. None of them liked me for my personality, because none of them knew my personality. I sheltered them from it, because if anyone was capable of seeing the torment and vile things that happened behind the good looks, they'd be disgusted. Absolutely disgusted. If anything, it would be something they expect from Axel, not me, and that's low.

"Riku?" She waved a hand in front of my eyes.

I blinked and returned my nonchalant expression to my face. "Yeah?"

"You do realise we're not even on school grounds any more?" She stifled a giggle.

I looked around us, she was right, we had gone directly through the school, past the football field and out the back gate that nobody knew existed. I sighed.

"You know, the last time I came back here," I said looking around at the colourful, way-too-happy flora. "It was with Kairi."

Naminé raised an eyebrow and looked at me confused. I was keeping my eyes anywhere but near her, she reminded me too much of Kairi it was criminal.

"She was my girlfriend. Of four years." I laughed bitterly.

"I'm sorry."

I laughed again then turned around and walked back into school. I glanced quickly at the clock on my phone and sighed. Period 2 would be starting soon, and Xemnas only gave me the first period out of class.

"Period 2 starts soon, did you need help getting to class?" I asked.

She looked at me, her eyes like windows, but I desperately wanted to shut the curtains. "Considering how you showed me that you get mauled by girls all day, and an alleyway that you used to use to cut school, I think I'll be perfectly fine looking for a class that you clearly showed me on this supposed tour."

I rolled my eyes. "All you had to say was, 'Riku, you're a terrible giver of tours, take me to my class'."

She arched a brow and smirked. "Fine, take me to my class, you useless giver of tours."

I nodded. "That's better. So, what do you have?"

"Art." She smiled.

_Brilliant. _I walked away from her, and she followed obediently, I looked over my shoulder and gestured for her to catch up. I slowed so she could and she walked up to my side.

"What?"

We were approaching a massive group of students, and the closer we got, the more eyes were trained on me.

"Hold my hand." I snapped.

"What? No."

"Just do it!" I snatched her hand and linked our fingers together. "I'm sorry if people hate you for this." I whispered in her ear, then turned her to face me and kissed those lips that were far too beautiful for her own good. Our lips moved together like each of us had been waiting for it to happen. I'll admit, a part of me was dying to, but a larger part was begging the smaller part to shut the fuck up. My lips parted slightly and she felt it, her lips parted too, and I felt my hand start moving towards her waist.

That was when she stopped. She pulled back once my hand touched her side. Her breathing stopped. I noticed her hand twitch. She was going to slap me.

"Don't slap me yet. We can get away from all these people and then slap me." I growled quietly, keeping anyone from hearing.

The crowd of people were silent after watching us kiss. The majority of them were going to hate one of us. Considering the majority were girls, they were going to hate Naminé.

_I've doomed myself. And her. First days are so much fun._

I slid my arm around her waist and gave her a look that said 'if you push me away, both of us die'. She huffed but continued walking with me.

* * *

"Okay, we're alone." She started to raise her hand and I cringed, waiting for the stinging to tingle the side of my face. When no brutal pain had befallen me, I opened my eyes and she stood there, with a stupid smug smile on her face, and there it was, that sketchbook that was almost a part of her, and once again, the pencil was moving against the paper. The sound of the lead hitting the paper was almost musical.

"You're cruel." I said.

"Just don't...move."

She finished quickly and again, turned the sketchbook to face me. The picture was glorious, this time she had refrained from making me a buffalo, but it was beautiful. It was one of those drawings that brought forward feelings you thought you could never have again.

"So, do you like it?" She asked.

I smirked. "No, I hate it."

She pushed me playfully then stiffened up and looked in my direction, though her eyes had shot passed me. "I don't have a choice do I?"

I didn't bother looking back, there was obviously a group of girls there, most likely giving her the death stare. "What do you mean?" I pushed open the door to Art class.

"You literally forced me into following you around all day, if I don't, girls are going to rip my throat out."

"Basically. Especially if they find out you only started school here today. That type of shit spreads like wildfire."

She sighed.

"Come on, be excited. It'll be fun, you can draw pictures of me being a whiny little bitch _all _day. You'll even get to meet my friends."

"Friends...Riku, no! Could it be." She teased.

"Ha, ha. Aren't you a funny one."

She sat down at the very back of the class, we had arrived before anyone else, no doubt they were all huddled up outside trying to figure out what exactly Naminé and I had just done. I pulled out the chair beside her and sat down, letting my bag fall down to my feet.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

I looked over at her. "What, I can't sit down?"

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, why are you sitting down?"

"Because in class, you are required to sit down." I muttered while pulling out my own black and white sketchbook. It hadn't been drawn in much, the only actual things in it were class projects, and even those looked terrible. I hadn't had the energy to draw since Kairi had left.

"So the rumours are true!" A husky voice chuckled. "Riku has a new gal pal."

"Naminé, this is Axel." I gestured to the red-head who had plucked a chair and plonked himself down beside our table. "One of my oh-so-loving friends."

"I see." She made a face at him, I couldn't decipher if it was a face of disgust or curiosity. "And I'm not his gal pal."

Axel looked at me with raised brows and questions in his eyes.

"I was trying to avoid a crowd." I murmured.

Axel nodded knowingly. "Right, make a ruse to skip what can only follow through with a bruise."

I laughed. "Stick to the piano mate, song-writing just isn't for you."

He pouted and turned around to face the front of the class, just as the teacher and the rest of the students we were forced to sit with for an hour walked in. A few people gave Naminé and I fleeting glances, obviously part of the crowd that had heard about our show. One girl who's name I knew solely because she had beat my cellphone number out of Roxas and would text me non-stop, was glaring at the two of us. It was sweet, in that weird, extremely creepy and ominous way. Unfortunately for Axel, since I had chosen to sit with Naminé, he was sitting with one of the girls. She was the worst of them all, we recognised her, we recognised a few of them. Her name was Selphie, and boy was she tough to handle. I heard a rumour once that she would come to school an hour before everyone else just so she would be the first to wait by our parking spot. Obviously rumours are never true...I hope. Back to the matter at hand, Axel was literally in the worst place he could've been right then and there, because not only was she one of the worst, she was also one of his many ex-girlfriends. The truth is, they were never exactly boyfriend and girlfriend, they had a one night stand at one of our first parties in the apartment. It was right before break, and throughout the whole two weeks following that party, there were rumours spreading that she was pregnant. Axel brushed it off like nobodies business, but when we returned to school and Selphie wasn't standing by his door waiting to squeal like he was the fucking prince of Persia, he freaked. She returned to school the next day, stomach flat, breasts still the same puny size they had been before, and waiting by our parking spot just like she always had. Let me tell you, Axel was careful about his sexual adventures from then on. The period went by without a single disturbance, I'm sure Axel had said something to Selphie though, because she sat rigid on the seat for a solid ten minutes after the bell had rung.

"What did you say to the poor girl?" I asked, glancing back at her again.

Axel shrugged and smirked. "Not much."

"You told her you'd fuck her again didn't you."

"You know me so well."

Naminé pulled a face, this time it was clearly of disgust. "How can you have _that _much sex?"

Axel chuckled then turned around on the spot. "Look at me, girls ovaries explode at my sight."

"Are you sure? Because my ovaries feel pretty good at the moment." She teased.

Axel pouted at her, but she stood firm. "Stay like that." She said and pulled out her pencil again.

"What is sh-"

I shushed him. "Just roll with it."

Naminé quickly finished her drawing and showed me. She was a real joker, that girl. She had drawn Axel...as a girl. He reached out for the sketchbook, eager to see what I had laughed at.

"Nope." She popped the 'p'.

Axel pouted again. "Come on!"

"No."

I shook my head. "Come on, let's go find Roxas so I can have a smoke."

"You smoke?"

I looked back at her, she was shocked. "There's a lot you don't know about me sister, now hold my hand again."

I snatched it from her side and she groaned.

"Do you want your throat ripped out? Look alive girl!"

* * *

I hope you liked it.  
I certainly enjoyed writing it.

3


	2. Chapter 2: Rain

**A/N  
**Alright, here's the second chapter. It's the teeniest bit rushed, but I still like it.  
I hope you like it too.  
**Disclaimer:  
**I don't own stuff.  
You should know that.

_Only enemies speak the truth__; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty._

* * *

Smoking is probably bad for me. I get it. But it just feels good, the same thing goes for alcohol and sex. It's a way of life, I suppose. Probably not the life I would've chosen for myself a couple years ago, but meeting a person like Axel changes you. You wouldn't believe the way I used to be before we met. We met each other before either of us met Roxas, we met at the tattoo parlour. We were both getting one done at the same time, and rather than shouting profanities at our artists to vent the pain of that needle etching ink into our skin, we swore at each other. Great way to meet your best friend, I suppose. In that two hours, we had formed a bond nobody else would ever feel. We were tattoo buddies, although the only person who had ever said it was me, Axel swiftly hit me when I'd even bring that up.

Smoking gives me a sense of self-worth, it's a vice, I suppose. Although I'm not sure what for. I've been smoking since I was 16, which was a whole year before Kairi left, and that's the only thing I register as 'bad' in my life. Looking around myself, I thought about where I was in life. Honestly, my life was terrible. I did terrible things for absolutely no reason, then ran from the consequences because I was too scared to face the problems I had made. I hated myself, and I hated life. Kind of made it all work out, in an odd, completely-not-working-out kind of way.

"You guys do realise smoking is bad for you, right?" Naminé muttered.

"Don't bother, I've tried telling them." Roxas said beside her.

I looked to Axel, who stood beside me with his own cigarette between his fingers, then down at Naminé. "You seem to enjoy drawing us smoking."

"I said it was bad for you, I didn't mention anything about you quitting."

I arched my brow.

She looked up and sighed, obviously not happy about diverting her eyes from the work of art beneath her. "You're already in too deep to quit. I can tell, I've been there. You'll keep telling yourself you can quit tomorrow, but you won't."

"If you've been there, that means you had to have quit." Axel mumbled before putting the cigarette out with his boot.

"I haven't quit. You never quit those habits, you stop for a while, and then you start again. I just haven't started again." She murmured, while returning her full attention to the drawing.

"Yet." I said.

She nodded. "Exactly."

I walked over and stood behind her, then leant over and peeked at the drawing. Again, it was flawless, that is, if she had planned to draw Axel as a girl again. If that wasn't part of the intention, then she had messed up big time. She looked up at me and grinned.

"He suits it, doesn't he?" She laughed.

I nodded. "Definitely." My legs carried me back to Axel's side and I put an arm around his waist. "I'd fuck him."

"I was right!" Axel jumped back. "You _do _only want me for my dick!"

* * *

The first day of school passed by quickly, much to my approval, and we were quickly dealing with the crowd that had surrounded Axel's car. Only this time they had parted like the red sea, while Naminé and I walked through holding hands. It was glorious, not the holding hands with her part though I suppose that's brilliant too, but them parting like that. It's like that hadn't expected me to start dating again after what had happened with Kairi. Technically I wasn't dating, but they didn't need to know that.

"Will this happen everyday?" She asked when we were finally in the safety of Axel's car.

"Only if you want it to, we can fake break-up if you want. But then they'll rip your throat out." I replied and smirked.

"You did that on purpose, you're doing this so you have the chance to hold my hand. You're just doing it all to prove me wrong."

"Wrong? About what, may I ask?" I asked curiously.

She shook her head and pulled out her sketchbook and pencil, clearly not interested in saying what she was thinking, but drawing it. Her own personal outlet, her own vice, unlike my stupid smoking habit, she actually did something that was worth a little gratitude. I just stood around smoking, drinking and fucking, then I came to school and acted like nothing had happened.

* * *

We were going out that night, not that anyone cared. We were going out to the island not far from the beach. We had been going there since we were children, Sora and I, that is. Kairi too, but we tend to ignore that. I pulled the beanie over my silver hair and grabbed my longboard from the closet. Axel reached in and grabbed his own board after pulling on his black hoodie.

"Hey, are you gonna make a move?" He said while we walked down the flight of stairs.

I frowned. "You mean on Naminé?"

He nodded.

"I don't know. I never thought about it."

"Don't lie. She reminds you of Kairi just as much as she reminds me of her. You're dying to get in her pants."

I scrunched up my face and then thought about it. "I honestly don't want to have sex with her...I want to get to know her. I want her to _want _to get into my pants."

"You want her to like you? Dude, if you're dying that much for a relationship then go fuck one of those fangirls."

"That's not a relationship, you twat. That's a fuck buddy. I don't want one of those, nor do I need one."

"Because you got me, right?" He smirked.

I laughed and dropped my longboard to the pavement. "Come on, let's go."

"I'm serious man, if you don't want me to make a move, that's cool. I'll let her slide. Had my eye on someone else anyways." He said the last part with a thick voice, like he had been dying to say it, but was too scared to form it into words.

I shrugged. "I don't care. Go ahead."

He smirked. "Whatever man, don't come crying to me when jealousy starts to fuck you over."

"Who said it'll even come to a point where I'll need to feel jealousy?"

"You sayin' she won't say yes? Are you a mind reader now or something?" He chuckled.

I stopped my longboard and stepped off it, then kicked it up and walked down to our boat.

"I'm not saying that." I said. "She's just different. Y'know?"

"You've known her for a day and you're already in deeper than you were with Kairi." He shook his head at me. "Sometimes I worry about you, kid."

* * *

"Who's this?" Sora asked and looked Naminé up and down.

"My fake girlfriend." I smirked.

He frowned. "Do I even want to know?"

I shrugged. "Probably not. I'm surprised you didn't find out already."

"The middle-class high school doesn't have the best gossip system." He replied.

"That must be terrible to deal with, do tell me more!" I took a sip of my beer then put it back into the make shift coaster I had made of sand. I glanced to my side, Naminé was leaning against my shoulder drawing in her sketchbook. The picture was beautiful, but I didn't dare say it out loud. Sora followed my eyes and looked at the sketchbook for himself.

"Can I take a look?" He asked.

Naminé pushed herself up from the sand and handed the book over, keeping the pencil moving in her hand.

"You drew all these?" He asked.

She nodded and Sora turned the book around. "Even this?"

I blushed, hard. Literally, the red on my face could've supplied a rainbow. It was the drawing she had done in the car, at first I thought it was just me having a cigarette, but then I realised exactly what the smoke coming from my mouth was forming. It was her, she had drawn herself as smoke, and we were kissing. The two of us were kissing, but it didn't look like it, but it was. I had fallen from the comfort of my elbows, to the sand, and since Naminé was still leaning against my shoulder, she had fallen too. Her head landing on my stomach. I looked down and she looked up, our eyes connected, and then we just laughed. We laughed and laughed. It was the most genuine laugh I had had in a long time, I was happy. The girl had only been in my life for one day and I was the happiest I had been in a whole year. Sora and Axel just watched us like we were crazy. Maybe we were, but at that moment, we didn't care. I could feel her...feeling. She had been so unhappy, just like me, and now we were both the complete opposite of that. My happiness had mixed with her happiness and now we were both nothing but a pile of happy.

* * *

I woke up with the worst headache imaginable. I didn't even recall how I had gotten home last night, but something laying beside me brought the racing thoughts in my mind back to reality.

_Nothing happened last night, right?_

I lifted up the blanket and looked down, my clothes were still on, my shoes too. So were hers. I turned to face her with intent of waking her up, but I just ended up playing with her hair. I twisted it in my fingers the way I used to do with Kairi's. I ran it through my fingers and eventually my hand started drumming along her back. At that, she woke up, and she rolled over.

"Mornin', sweet thing." I murmured.

"Good morning." She mumbled back without opening her eyes.

"Naminé..."

She stretched her arms and it fell over my shoulder and slid down till it was around my waist.

"Why did you draw the two of us kissing?"

Her eyes flashed open and she suddenly realised where she was. Rather than continuing to cuddle me, she pushed back, and evidently fell to the ground.

"Fuck. Why am I here?" She grumbled.

"Hell if I know."

She jumped up and looked around. "Why was I in bed with you?"

"I don't even remember how I got home." I said, as if that was any excuse.

That's when the bedroom door opened and Axel walked in holding a mug of coffee in his hand. "Hey there love birds."

We both frowned and looked at each other.

_No, no, no._

"We didn't did we?" Naminé asked with her eyes the size of dinner plates.

Axel smirked. "Fuck? Yeah, you guys were going hard. I could barely get you into this room without the two of you trying to rip each other's clothes off. Honestly, I'm surprised Sora even let you into his car after what you did on the beach!"

I sat up and rubbed my face with both hands. "Fuck."

Axel started laughing, he nearly dropped his coffee, he was laughing that hard. "I'm just fucking with you two. If I had known you'd act this messed up over it, I would've said something worse!"

Naminé sighed and threw a pillow at the red-head. "Fuck off." She groaned.

Once Axel left I fell back onto the bed and covered my eyes with my forearm. "I'm sorry he's such an ass."

"I'm sorry I didn't actually fuck you." She smirked.

I perked up and jumped across the bed, she stepped back quickly and laughed while pulling on her sweatshirt. "It was a joke." She said.

"I know, but it still turned me on." I replied with a smirk on my face.

"You teenage boys, so fun to be around." She laughed.

I pouted.

"Not as good as Axel's."

I frowned.

She bent down and kissed my forehead. "You're an idiot."

"A fuckable one, though."

"I suppose. A fuckable idiot that I'd like to get to know. So let's do that today, alright? Let's get to know each other."

Right, it was Saturday, no school. "Sure. Let's...get to know."

"The concept is new to you, isn't it?" She said.

"A little. But I can dig it."

She looked at me like I had just shot a puppy. "Never. Ever. Say that again."

"What...I can dig it?" She nodded. "Come on! I can dig it! You can dig it! We'll dig it for days."

"Shut up."

* * *

Getting to know each other wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. We ended up catching a train to Twilight Town, eventually meeting up with Roxas and heading downtown.  
"Where are we going?" She asked.

We were walking down a dark alleyway, and if I hadn't been there before, I probably would've been acting the same way.

"We're going to see a good friend." Roxas called back as he turned the corner and there was a loud screech of a familiar rusty door opening and closing.

"Whatever you do..." I began as we turned the same corner and walked up to the very same red rusty door. "Don't stare. He hates it."

We walked in, and Naminé was standing closer to me than she had before. Her gasp was quiet and barely noticeable, but I heard it. She was doing exactly what I had told her not to do, she was staring. Xaldin was sitting across the room, with a beer can in front of him and a line of cocaine beside it. She wasn't gasping at the drugs of course, she was gasping at the scar.  
Xaldin used to be a big surfer, he'd go down to the beach whenever he could, spending all his money on a train ride, or he'd hitch one with random strangers. Whenever I asked him why he trusted those strangers, he said it was surfer code. If they had a board in their boot, it was perfectly safe. There comes a time in every surfers life where you forget about everything else and just surf. You head out to the water, and everything seems clear, even if on sand it's not at all. One day he had gotten into an accident. He was at the beach alone, and out in the water. The ocean was just starting to calm, and the silence was eerie. He didn't see the fin till it was too late, it knocked his board out from under him, and took a bite. A small part of his shoulder was bitten off. Luckily it missed everything major, and a fisherman on his boat found him lying on his surfboard, nearly dead from the loss of blood. Either Xaldin was extremely lucky, or the shark didn't think he tasted good, because if not for that shark leaving, he would've been eaten. Since then, Xaldin has been too scared to go out into the water, surfboard or not, he was paranoid. Shark attacks can do that to a guy. Rather than getting proffesional therapy, he rustled up whatever money he had left and bought his own therapy. It started out with the occasional blunt, but quickly turned into something more, now he was a drug dealer. He had cocaine, marijuana, heroin. Anything a drug addict would need, but not many knew about him. He was discreet, quiet, and hard to fool. The only drugs he handed out willy nilly was marijuana, and that was exactly why we had come to his doorstep.

"You smoke weed?" She said, just as shocked as when she'd found out I smoke tobacco.

"Look, sweet thing, this morning you said we were going to get to know each other. What have you learnt about me?"

"That you smoke marijuana and are a borderline alcoholic." She listed off.

"I also hate religion. Look, you learnt three things about me. Tell me three things about you."

Xaldin and Roxas stood up to leave the room at that moment, not interested in seeing how the rest of this conversation played out.

"Alright. You were wrong, when you assumed the only reason I was at your school was because I had been kicked out of every other one."

I raised an eyebrow at her and she took a deep breath.

"Granted, I have been kicked out of them all, but that's not the only reason. My parents are stupid. I'm not denying it. They're stupid, idiotic, moronic, and they need help. Good thing prison has free therapy, right?" She tried to smile. "Anyway, my parents are drug addicts. I used to spend my birthdays sitting beside a hospital bed waiting for them to wake up from whatever overdose they had suffered the night before. Then on the ride home, I'd be forced to sit through them yelling at each other trying to find out who they should blame for their foolish actions. Normally, the blame would fall on me, and I was more-or-less beaten to the point where my tears stung every part of my face and standing up caused a bruise somewhere on my body to antagonise me."

"Shit, Nami." I said. "I'm sorry."

She laughed bitterly. "That's not even the best part, this was all before I was 7. That birthday was shit, let me tell you. My parents probably had the biggest fight of their entire marriage. Still don't know why they got married in the first place. Their marital problems is beside the point, my mom attempted suicide. She stood at the top of that apartment complex and threatened to jump. Obviously she didn't, and again, they had an argument about who to blame. I was on the sour end of the stick, and they kicked me out of the house."

She looked up at me, probably looking for a reaction, but my face was blank. I didn't have an expression because I had never heard anything like this before. I didn't have a way to react.

She shook her head and carried on. "Like the stupid little brat that I am, I went to the authorities. Did you know they don't believe 7 year old girls who claim to have been kicked out of their own house by their drug-fucked parents? Because they don't, they called my parents, they took me home, and then I was blamed. Again."

I raised my hand to stop her, but she just kept talking, she was letting everything spill out, because it was what I had wanted. I was pinning her up against a wall and just begging for her to tell me that life story that everyone had. Everyone's was different and I wanted to hear them all. But not this one. Because I knew how these stories usually end.

"I was 7. I had just turned fucking 7, and I attempted suicide. I woke up the next morning with bandages all over my arms. Turns out I had _nearly _bled to death. _Nearly_. I was sitting outside the apartment complex, hiding behind a dumpster just cutting. Cutting everything, my wrists, my legs, my ankles and my arms. They weren't deep, but there were a hell of a lot of them. Some homeless dude must've found me and gotten help. I honestly don't remember. I woke up with my grandmother's hand in mine, and a hospital bracelet on my wrist. On it, it said 'attempted suicide'. I cried. My grandmother took my parents to court, unfortunately for them, they lost, and following that, the apartment was searched. They found the drugs, they found everything. My parents were sent to jail. I wasn't even double-digits, and my life had turned to shit. My grandmother tried to take care of me, but something had snapped inside. Trying to take your own life does that sometimes. They sent me to a mental hospital. Do you know how terrible those places are? They treat you...like a kid. I suppose I was physically, but mentally, I had taken enough. I had seen enough to call myself a mid-thirties 7 year old. I wasn't mental. I was...emotional, but not mental. Eventually I got the all clear. That was about three years ago. I had expected to leave that place and run into the loving arms of my grandmother, but during my time in the loony bin, she had passed away. No one had even bothered to tell me, it's not like I knew her too well, she was barely around during my childhood, but she was there when I needed her most." She took a deep, tear choked breath then carried on. "I stayed in a foster home till I turned 18 and I was legally an adult. Seeing as I had never actually gone to high school, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to enrole. Then I met you."

I didn't say anything, I didn't need to. Naminé was a strong girl, I knew then and there that a tear would never fall from that girls eye. If one ever did, her heart would have been ripped up to an extent that I didn't even want to be familiar with. She was the strongest girl I had ever met, and I loved her for it. As much as my instincts were telling me to open my arms and let her fall into them, I knew better. She wasn't like that. If she wanted a hug, she'd open her own arms, not wait for somebody else to open them for her.

"That was more than three."

She giggled quietly. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Can you take me home?"

"Uh...sure, but where exactly is that?" I frowned.

She laughed. "Let me rephrase that. Can you take me to your apartment?"

"My apartment is your home now, huh?"

She shrugged. "I have no where else to go."

I nodded and picked up our coats from the back of the sofa. "Roxas, we're going! Coming with?" I called down the hallway.

The blonde stepped out of a room, with a half naked girl draped over him. "I'm sweet, man." He smirked.

"Don't get into trouble!" I yelled back.

"I think it's a bit late for that." He chuckled.

* * *

"You guys live terrible lives."

I looked over at her, she was looking out the train window, watching the approaching clouds promising rain. She was depressed, like while she had told me all of that, she had re-lived it. She was the type of girl who wouldn't talk about her past, because she didn't want to face it herself.

"Is that a compliment?"

She pushed herself away from the window and looked at me from beneath her eyelashes. "If you take it as one, that's concerning."

I scoffed. "I'm concerning, get used to it."

"Look, Riku."

I looked at her, telling her not to get into some emotional bullshit through my eyes. She sighed and turned back to the window.

"Someday you're gonna have to grow up." She said to the window.

"Yeah, well when that day comes, I'll let you rub it in my face."

"Gladly."

We were quiet, and neither of us had the energy to even start up a conversation, so Naminé had started to draw.

"One day, you're going to be this big artist, living a care-free life."

She let the pencil swing between her fingers for a second while looking out the window, she glanced at me with a frown. "What are you planning to do?"

"What?"

She placed down the sketchbook and turned her torso towards me. "What are you planning to do with your life, be a senior in high school the whole time?"

I shrugged. "Never thought about it."

"Exactly, and it's about time you did. You're a smart guy, Axel too, your grades are through the roof. But the way you're living now, isn't going to get you anywhere. You're just a kid, doing adult things, because you think it makes you grown-up. You have to start _thinking_."

"You sound like my mother." I mumbled.

"Riku!" She growled, her eyes were stressed and her hands were clenched turning her knuckles white. "Sex, drugs and alcohol doesn't make you an adult."

"What does it make me then?"

"Stupid."

* * *

"Hey guys, you're back early."

I threw my coat into the closet and walked into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me, making it perfectly clear that I didn't want her to come in. I knew she was right, the way I've been living is stupid. Moving out of my parents house was stupid, Axel and I were barely getting by. His grandmother sent us enough money to pay the rent, but if one of us didn't get a job soon, we'd starve to death. Especially now that Naminé had decided to make this her home. I groaned and fell back onto the bed. There was quiet tapping on the door and Axel peeked his head in.

"You alright?" He asked quietly, like if he spoke too loudly I'd have a nervous breakdown.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

I picked up a pillow and threw it at the door. "Fuck off."

The door closed, but Axel had come into the bedroom. He walked over all the shit on the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed beside me.

"What is this, a soap opera? what do you want?" I grumbled.

"This would be the least watched soap opera in existence." Axel chuckled then sighed. "Look, I don't want to know what happened between you two, but just...don't. You'll regret it."

"Don't what?"

Axel stood up and squeezed my shoulder, then walked out of the room without another word.

I knew I was making a terrible decision by letting her stay here. I shouldn't have held her hand. I shouldn't have kissed her. I should have given her that fucking tour, then left and never looked back. Who cares if she reminded me of Kairi, that meant it would end the same way it did with Kairi. I'm not putting myself through that again. I pushed myself off the bed and walked out into the living room.

"Naminé, I want you to leave."

She looked up. "What?"

"I want you to go." I said again, my tone firmer than it had been before.

She didn't say anything for a bit, then stood up and grabbed her bag, already clutching her sketchbook to her chest. "Fine."

"Riku, what are you doing? Naminé you can stay." Axel interrupted.

"No, it's fine. He has a point, I shouldn't have barged in. It was wrong of me. I'll see you on Monday."

Axel reached out for her, but she just smiled and walked out. I watched her go, my heart sinking as she closed the door.

"The fuck was that, man?" Axel snapped at me.

I turned into the kitchen and started making myself a sandwich. "It was a terrible idea for me to be friends with her. It'll just end up the same way it did with Kairi. Me being heart-broken."

"You didn't have to kick her out! She has no where else to go, fuck, man. I get it, she reminds you of Kairi, but the girl is _homeless_. That's just selfish."

"She said we live terrible lives."

"We do!"

I shook my head. "I know, she's right. But I'd rather get my fucking life together than be distracted by something that won't work out because I'm a dipshit."

Axel went into his pocket and fished out some money. "Go to Sora's house. Stay there for a couple days, alright? Just so Naminé has a place to stay."

"You don't need to give me your money, I'll go without a bribe." I muttered while grabbing my coat and longboard.

"The money isn't for you, it's for Sora's parents." He teased.

I chuckled and pushed him playfully, then took the money and stuffed it into my own pocket.

"See you Monday then."

"Get some rest man, you look beat."

I laughed. "I've looked 'beat' for a whole year."

"You were broken, not beaten."

I looked over my shoulder and sighed. "I wish someone would put me back together."

He raised his eyebrows, clearly waiting for me to realise something. Something I already had realised. That's why I needed Naminé, because in reality, she wasn't anything like Kairi. She was completely different. Kairi hated art, her parents loved her, and...she didn't love me. Naminé might not have loved me either, but she knew what was best for me. For both of us, something had clicked. From the moment we had met, we were digging through each other's very being, looking for a reason to turn and run. I had found one, she reminded me of Kairi. She had found one too, my life was a complete wreck. But when we were together, it's like those reasons didn't mean a thing, she didn't remind me of Kairi, I just hadn't let Kairi go, and when the two of us were together, my life wasn't a wreck, it felt like it was finally tying together. She was fixing me, and I needed that. She was fixing me, because she needed that. She needed to prove to herself that people like me could be civilised. She needed to know that it was her parents fault to be the way they were, not hers. I wasn't going to sit back and make her face the world alone, because I had pulled her into my life, it was my fault, and I was being selfish.

"Did you just have one of those epiphany, things?" Axel asked.

"I think so."

I pulled my coat on and peeked out the window, the rain was falling hard, and she was out there in it. "Do you mind _trying _to clean up my room a bit, I heard girls like that."

Axel grinned. "Sure man, go get her."

I grinned back and ran out the door and down the hallway to the stairs, leaving the door open behind me. Axel stepped out.

"You know this means I get that money back!" He yelled at me.

* * *

Skating around in the rain is probably my favorite thing to do, why I was doing it however, was not. I'd only been out for ten minutes when I saw her sitting in front of a café. It was closed, and she was sitting out beneath the awning that hung over the door. She had her sketchbook clutched to her chest again, the dress she had worn was soaked, and her hair dripped all over everything. I sighed and kicked my board off the ground. She looked up, saw it was me, and looked away.

"Naminé..."

She stood up and started walking away from me into the rain. I ran up to her and put my hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stop and turn around. I slid my jacket off and put it over her shoulders. Although she was intent on not making eye contact with me, she clutched the jacket to her like an old friend.

"I'm sorry."

She looked up at me, water dripping from her nose. "I was just trying to help."

"I know, and I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I'm just scared."

She frowned. "Of what?"

"I can't say."

She turned and started walking away. I sighed and stood by myself in the rain as she walked away.

"I need you." I mumbled again under my breath.

I still watched her walking away from me, and my heart ached for her to be back beside me. I needed to know she was safe. I had my heart out on the table for her, and every step further away from me felt like a knife, just stabbing.

"I need you." I called out.

She had stopped walking and I took that opportunity. I dropped my board and ran to her. She turned when I got to her and I put my hands on her cheeks. "I need you."

"Why?" She mumbled, still keeping her eyes away from mine.

"Because you make me feel like myself. You care about me, you want me to be good and nobody has ever done that before." I laughed humorlessly. "It's only been two days, and I'm already running through rain to bring you back."

"Maybe you shouldn't have forced me into the rain in the first place." She snapped and started to walk away again.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, planting my lips on hers, I kept my hands on her wrists and she didn't pull away, but she didn't kiss me back either. I let go of her wrists, expecting her to run as soon as I did, but she didn't, her hands found my hips and slowly moved up my back. She had started to kiss back, her arms were around my neck, and mine were down by her waist. Eventually she broke the kiss, and took a deep breath.

"Just...come back, please. I'm not letting you stay in the rain." I plead.

"Why should I?"

"Because the further away from me you get, the more I ache." I shook my head and realised how ridiculously stupid I sounded. "You know what, nevermind. I'll just go stay with Sora, if you need a place to stay, feel free to go back to Axel. I won't be there."

I walked back to my board and pushed it back onto it's wheels.

"Who said I didn't want you there?"

* * *

Life likes to kick you in the balls sometimes. When it does, it kicks hard. It makes you crumple at it's feet and beg for mercy, then it has this huge stupid smirk on it's face and you catch the mischevious glint in it's eye. You hate life after that, and life notices. It notices you being sad, and depressed, and generally in a terrible mood. Then life finds a way to make it up to you. It finds a compromise, it finds something that will help your head stay above water. Life meets you half way. But you've learnt your lesson, you don't love life again straight away, because if you do, you'll just get kicked in the balls again, and it'll be harder. Not the kick, the kick will still be the same, but recovering from the kick. Finding a compromise is harder, because life has also learnt it's lesson. You completely wasted the first chance it gave you, it was your fault life kicked you the second time. So life _doesn't _help you out again. Life doesn't _need _to help you out again. Because, when it comes down to it, when you rip away everything meaningless in your life, the material things, you leave your body out raw, and open, and vulnerable. When that happens. You need to take care of yourself.

* * *

If you're reading this. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3: Spiderman

**A/N:** This chapter killed me. I literally wrote four different versions for this chapter, this one being the fourth and I couldn't bring myself to like any of them. This chapter is all plot development, so don't expect a lot of NaminéxRiku. Sorry. I'm sorry if it's sloppy, I couldn't find a better way of putting in this "twist" in the story.

**Reviewer Section:** Thank you _Soul of Me_ for reviewing both chapters! I'm glad you like it. I made Naminé so obsessed with drawing because it seemed like a good way for her to express her own feelings, rather than talking it out. I did some quick research on _The Breakfast Club,_ it sounds awesome I just might have to watch it. I've always thought Riku would have random gay moments with Axel (of all people) because they seem so similar in my opinion (doing bad things for their best friends). I actually started pairing Riku and Naminé because of a fan-fiction I read called_ All the Pieces Lie Where they Fell_ by _forevermagik13_, I just like the way the author portrayed their relationship. I'm glad you liked Chapter 2 also, it was very easy to write, everything kind of just fell onto the page effortlessly. There will be quite a bit of swearing, I think due to the way they grew up they've kind of turned into these types of people, if that makes sense. You think the drawing looked (well, sounded) breath-taking? Huh, it was just a quick idea. xD But thanks. Ahh, questions, they reveal loopholes. Naminé, if I'm correct, is 19, Axel is much older, 22, and Riku is 19 just like Naminé, Roxas is 18. Haha, I didn't really do the math on that one, but no, Naminé didn't stay in the mental hospital for 8 years, she stayed with her grandmother for a couple years before going there, and then she left, she didn't go to the foster home immediately though, this part will be explained further on. Thank you again for reading and reviewing! I hope this covers any questions you had! :)  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. Imagine if I owned Spiderman though? While we're on Spiderman, Andrew Garfield, anyone? Back to the point, I don't own stuff.

* * *

Naminé opened my eyes to the world, the real world, the world where I'm a failure and I needed to pull my life together. Did I hate her for it? Yes, definitely. If it wasn't for the fact that I had fallen in love with her the moment I set eyes on her in Xemnas' office, I'd round-house kick her in the face. The life I had been living since I had moved out of my parents house was pointless and stupid. Regardless of whether or not I wanted to change my life, I had to. The first step was forcing myself out into the harsh world and getting a good old fashioned, minimum-wage job.

They all judged me. All of them. I made an effort only to be shot down. It was like targetting practice for them, whenever I thought I had finally found the place that would hire me, they turned me around, shovelling crap into my ears like, "You're just not what we're looking for", or "We don't need someone with your talents at the moment". It was all bullshit, but I could be professional about it, they didn't like the way I looked, I could deal with that. Plugs, tattoos and facial piercings give off that vibe. I suppose if I had written out a proper CV with my accomplishments and school grades on it, then they would give me a second glance, although a few of them would probably assume I was lying. However, I ended up wandering my way into the very tattoo parlour Axel and I had met in. It was on my list from the beginning of the job hunt, but it was a last resort.

"Look, Riku, you're a great customer and I'm know you're a brilliant artist, but you lack the qualifications." Braig said while walking into the back of the shop. "I'd hire you lickity-split if you had the license to do all this." He gestured to one of his staff in the midst of etching someone's lower back. The man glanced back and grinned at me, I recognized him as Isa, one of his best artists. He had been the one to give Axel his tattoo. I looked around me, the shop was a mess, there were papers everywhere, sketched up tattoos were literally walked on so much they had stuck themselves into the floorboards. Not that you could tell they were floorboards, it was splattered with so much paint you couldn't even see the texture of the wood. The idea came to me, like a spark of lightning.

"How about I just clean the place up?" I suggested. Braig turned around laughing.

"Riku, I've seen your apartment, cleanliness isn't one of your best traits."

I waved my hand in dismissal. "That's all Axel! Look, I can get this place cleaned up, and keep it clean. If I were getting paid to clean my place, I'd do it."

Braig folded his arms across his chest and looked at me for a moment before sighing. "Fine. I'll give you the job, but don't think you get a discount on some art, because you don't, you'll pay just like everyone else."

I nodded and shook his hand. "Thanks, Braig. You won't regret it, I'll have this place cleaned up faster than you can say, 'I fucked a badger last July'." I grinned at him and he just chuckled.

* * *

My life had finally started to look up, Axel had gotten a job at the nearest convenience store, and the both of us had steady income rolling in. Our fridge was barely empty, except for the rare occasions where we had been blessed with marijuana and were eventually overcome by a case of the munchies. Naminé was looking at me with pride in her eyes, because for once she had changed the way someone lived. Sometimes she was riddled with guilt, and I could see it in the way she watched Axel and I flop onto our beds after a long day of work and school. She had taken it upon herself to do our homework, although she didn't like to openly say it, the girl was just as smart as the two of us, maybe even smarter.

"Naminé, you can go to sleep now. The paper isn't due till Friday." I grumbled from the couch.

She looked up, her eyes red and tired, she gave a weak smile. "Tomorrow _is _Friday, Riku."

I laughed. "Hah, how time flies."

"Just sleep, sweetie. I'll finish the paper, I only have my one left to do, anyways. You've done good, Riku...I'm proud of you."

I smiled just as my eyes drooped shut and everything was black, the only thing I could hear while I fell into a deep slumber, was the sound of Naminé's fingers tapping against Axel's laptop, aforementioned red-heads snoring and the rather loud yet soothing sound of crickets outside.

I woke up to the sound of tapping, glancing up at the window, the source of the noise, I frowned when Roxas stood on the other side, his eyes wide and his expression frightened. I wasn't even going to begin askng how he had gotten onto our balcony and why he was tapping our window at 3 in the morning. I got up quickly, careful not to wake Naminé who had passed out with her face on the keyboard. When I cracked the window slightly, Roxas was already pulling at the gap trying to pull himself in.

"Calm down, man." I grunted as the window opened enough for someone to fit through.

Before I had the chance to protest he had his legs through and he had pulled the rest of his body in afterwards.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked in a quick whisper.

He looked over his shoulder like he expected someone to follow him. "Nothing, man, it's cool." He seemed breathless and his words were rushed, like he didn't have enough time.

"Roxas..."

His eyes darted to mine and then away just as quickly, I put my fingers under his chin and lifted his face to meet mine. He winced at the touch but then quickly returned to his former state.

"What's up, Riku?" He said and licked his lips.

His body was moving fast and his eyes wouldn't keep still. His pulse was quicker than it should've been and adrenaline was practically oozing from his palms. I pushed him down onto the couch, not interested in seeing him standing there, I knew perfectly well what had happened.

"Who gave it to you?"

He looked up at me and his stern expression quickly turned into a smile, he looked crazy, like he belonged in a loony bin. He began laughing and looking at me like _I_ was the crazy person.

"What do you mean, Riku?" He giggled.

I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands. "Who gave you the meth?" My hands were squeezing his shoulders at the last word and he couldn't help but break under the pressure.

"Some asian dude that was at Xaldin's. Why does it matter?" He growled but started giggling by the time he had said the last word.

There was a subtle sound of movement behind me, I turned and saw Axel standing in the doorway to his room, he was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" He grumbled.

"Hey Axel!" Roxas yelled and waved at his friend.

I groaned. "Shut up!"

"Oh, no." He swore under his breath. "Please tell me this is a dream. This can't happen again. It sucked enough the first time." Axel groaned and dragged a hand through his hair.

"What can't happen again?"

The three of us turned at the new voice and saw Naminé sitting at the kitchen table with a frown on her face.

"I used to do meth!" Roxas called out in reply, with a grin on his face like it was a good thing.

Naminé's face was pale, and even in the dim light you could see the way she had reacted. If you held a paper bag in front of her she'd probably keep it at her mouth till she passed out.

"Then we made you quit, didn't we Roxas." Axel murmured.

Roxas nodded vigorously. "It sucked too, so I started doing it again."

I frowned. "_When_?"

Roxas shrugged and stretched out on the couch. "Couple months ago."

My eyes narrowed. "You sure did hide it well, why did you decide to tell us about this now?"

He shrugged again. "It seemed like as good a time as any. I was in the neighborhood, decided to drop in."

I nodded. "Yeah, you dropped right onto the balcony."

He grinned. "I know! It was fun, I was running up the fire exit, like some serious parkour shit. Thought about going to the roof and being Spiderman, changed my mind though, bit chilly out there."

"Good thing you changed your mind. Bad enough you're like this, wouldn't want the cops scraping you off the footpath, now would we?" Axel said, althought his words had a hint of humor, his face was stern, and I could see through his eyes the pain he felt after actually imagining the situation.

Roxas frowned and quirked his head like he had failed to understand.

"You know what this means, Roxas?" I said, sitting down beside him.

He pouted. "Are you gonna make me quit again?"

I nodded and wiped away the locks of hair which had stuck to the sweat on his forehead. "I'm sorry."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's fine." He muttered. "Was fun while it lasted, though."

Naminé, always had to look at the downside. "He'll just start again." She murmured. "It's obvious he'll start again, he has no one looking after him, and as soon as he's clean you'll let him run loose again. He might not start off right back on the stuff, but he'll get there."

Roxas grinned up at Axel and I, obviously siding with Naminé. She looked up at the silence and realized what her words had made us think.

"Don't get me wrong, he should definitely quit. But don't be surprised if he ends up at your window again, pretending that he's Spiderman."

"I was thinking more Batman, next time. Although bats creep me out."

* * *

The next morning I woke up with Roxas' head in my lap, at some point the drugs had worn off and he passed out. Naminé must've gone to my bed because nobody else was in the main room. I glanced up at the clock, it was time for everyone to get ready for school.

"Roxas." I murmured and pushed on him lightly, he grumbled and sat up with weary eyes. He looked up at me, now that light was flowing into the apartment easily, I got a good view of his face. He looked terrible, like someone had repeatedly punched him in the face and then forced him to stand out in the cold for days on end. He probably had. I glanced up out the window, it was raining and there was a snow warning on the telly the previous night. The beauties of Winter.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, brushing his hair to the side.

He shrugged. "Alright. I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked.

He looked me in the eyes with a weak smile on his face. "For the next couple months."

I smiled at him. "It's okay, we'll get through it."

He nodded and squeezed my hand. "Are you okay for school today?" I asked.

"Sure. It shouldn't be too bad till tonight."

"Alright, but if you ever need to come home, just tell me, I'll stick with you the whole day, right?"

"Promise?" He asked, and I swear I saw the tears brimming on his eyelid.

I smiled and wiped away the tears. "Promise."

* * *

"You're asking for a lot, Riku." Terra looked away from his papers up at me.

"I know Terra, but he really needs me with him." Terra is my English teacher, we had a good student-teacher relationship, he considered me one of his best and favorite students, we were even on first-name basis. "Now more than ever."

I looked Terra in the eyes and he quickly realized what I meant. Terra was there last time Roxas broke, and he knew fully well what Roxas would be going through over the coming months. Terra had been through withdrawal himself, and he had been a great help with him last time.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." He sighed.

I grabbed his hands and squeezed them in mine. "Thank you." I turned and walked to the door.

"Riku..." Terra called after me.

I glanced back over my shoulder. "Take care of him."

"What was that about?" Axel asked from his locker.

I walked over and stood beside him, leaning against the wall and keeping my eye on Roxas who stood on the opposite side of Axel looking through his own locker.

"I was asking if I could get a pass, so I can watch him." I murmured.

Axel looked across at me, his eyes alert. "What happened?"

"Terra said he'll see what he can do."

"You know after tomorrow he won't be able to come to school." Axel said.

I nodded. "Braig said I can keep him at the shop and he'll watch him."

"Yeah, definitely, needles, toxic paint, customers who probably did the shit with him. Great plan, Riku."

I sighed. "Look, Braig said he'll take good care of him. If you have a better idea, spit it out."

"Your parents?"

I scoffed. "Those alcoholics? Hell no. Look, I trust Braig."

He shook his head. "Fine, but I'm still not happy with this."

"Look, we only have about a month left then we have mid-year exams, then a month break, he'll be good enough to come to school by then."

Axel nodded. "Right. Keep an eye on him today, aye? He'll tell you he's fine when he's really not."

* * *

The day passed by without any problems, Roxas was his usual cheerful self, but as we neared the end of the day, he had begun looking at everything in a black and white, straight-forward, monotonous light.

"You know what it feels like?" Roxas muttered while tapping the dashboard with his fingers.

I glanced over from the drivers seat. "I have no idea."

He chuckled. "Yeah, because you've never fucked up like this. You don't know what it feels like, not just the pain of knowing I won't be getting a fix tonight from some asian dude on the corner. The emotional pain. Because I know how stupid I've been. It's depressing to say the least."

"That's just a symptom of withdrawal." I murmured.

The song on the radio was just loud enough to drown out the outside noise, but quiet enough so we could hear each other. My fingers tapped on the door outside the window, perfectly in time with the beat.

"What are you doing to my car?"

I looked out the window and Axel walked up and flicked me in the back of the head.

"Ow."

"Are you going to drive? I thought you had work." He frowned.

I opened the door and jumped out, completely ignoring the dwindling crowd of girls still sitting there watching our every move. Naminé was sick and hadn't come to school, apparently they had taken this as their chance to pounce, they had made their message perfectly clear too, my locker was filled with pictures of Naminé defaced and scribbled on, one of them had a very scary love note attatched to it.

"I was just watching him till you got here."

Axel sat down in his seat and started the car. "Need a ride to work?"

I shook my head. "Demyx offered. See ya."

* * *

Braig looked up as I opened the door to the shop, he smiled and I returned it weakly.

"How is he?"

I shrugged and started off where I was yesterday. "He was alright, started getting a little mopey near the end of the day. He'll probably be a lot worse tomorrow. Thank you."

He raised an eyebrow.

"For offering to look after him while we're at school. Axel and I were saying every second day we'll skip school and come help look after him."

Braig smiled politely. "That's great, but you guys don't have to miss school just to look after the kid. I got it, Isa and I know how to handle the kid."

I chuckled. "It's not like we wanted to go to school in the first place."

"You guys are gonna have to graduate at some point."

I smirked. "I know. But right not...we're trying to look after Roxas."

Braig nodded. "Right."

* * *

The next few weeks were terrible, we watched helplessly as Roxas went from his normal self into a depressed anti-social moron. Naminé was forced to get a job herself to help pay for food as Roxas shovelled everything into his mouth the first chance he got. We had to watch him every minute so he didn't harm himself or others, and the three of us, four if you count Braig, were piling all of the guilt onto ourselves. Because we couldn't do anything about it, none of us trusted anti-depressants because you could get just as addicted to those as you could to the meth he had been taking before hand. Naminé told us a story about how once her parents had a party and someone had brought meth to it, one of the guests had used nearly all of it on themselves and a few days after the party, no one had heard or seen from her. Turns out, somebody finally went over to the woman's apartment, found her hanging from a noose in her bedroom. We didn't want Roxas to kill himself, and he didn't want to either, but he didn't have any control over the effects. Sometimes he'd spend days on end just sleeping and lying in bed, much different to the time one of Braig's friends had become addicted to heroin, when that happened the man spent hours just screaming. Sometimes I'd be sitting alone with him and he'd just stare at a blank spot on the wall, then his head would unexpectedly turn to me and his eyes would bore into mine then his lips would part and he'd say the same thing he had already said dozens of times before.

"Kill me, please. Just make it stop."

Whenever he said that it took all the strength in my body to keep from crying. Every last ounce of energy that remained after a full day of school, work and looking after the blonde ball of depression, was put into keeping him from standing up with a gun to his head, or from climbing to the roof and jumping off.

"Hey, Riku, I'll take care of him, you go get some rest."

I smiled weakly at Axel and walked out of the bedroom, taking a last fleeting glance back at Roxas, he had returned to staring at the wall.

"How is he?"

I sat down opposite Naminé and just watched her type yet another one of our assignments.

"Asked me to kill him again." I mumbled before taking a sip of the can of Pepsi sitting beside me.

She sighed. "How long has it been, a month? It's only going to get worse."

I nodded. "But then it'll get better."

"You hope."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked it and stuff. Please review, it helps me in some way that motivates you to review. If you don't review, Sora will kill a puppy. _That's a little harsh._ Sora will tell a puppy it doesn't look cute. Hah! But seriously, please review and check out my other stories! I've started a music challenge called _Music Doesn't Lie..._ I'd appreciate if you checked it out, and I'm working on an AkuRoku/NaminéAxel fic. KEEP YOUR EYE OUT!


	4. Chapter 4: Crossroads

**A/N: **Welcome back dudes and dudettes. How are you? Here's the next chapter! I'm busy with school and stuff, but I'll still try to write this. Be aware, this chapter holds a very big "twist" in the story and I'm not even sorry.  
**Reviewer's Section: **Thank you _Soul of Me _for reviewing again. I'm 14...is that young? I haven't seen a lot of things, anyway. Thank you! I've definitely gotten better at writing compared to how I used to write, if anything it's from reading other stories. I don't know too much about the drugs Roxas is/was taking, so I had to do a bit of research myself. I wish someone would draw that, I suck at drawing, especially smoke, so even if I attempted to it would look a lot worse than you probably pictured in your mind.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own things.

* * *

For a moment, things started looking better. Roxas was gradually climbing out of his pit of depression, my relationship with Naminé was slowly becoming something more than a lie to keep the girls away from me at school, and Axel and I weren't struggling to get food in our stomachs each day, even with two extra people in the apartment. We were even at the point where his grandmother didn't have to send us money anymore, she was very proud of us at that and as a reward sent us more money, which reluctantly went towards college rather than the mild drugs we used regularly. But things always start to look better, right before they get worse. It's an endless cycle of winning and losing. Losing however, seems to be winning the fight by a fair margin.

"None of this is important."

Today Axel had chosen to skip school and stay home with Roxas, he was at the point where we didn't need multiple people to take care of him, all he did was sit around stuffing his face until he was on the brink of explosion. Although I probably had a faint idea of what Naminé was referring to, I decided to amuse her.

"What isn't important, dollface?"

She glanced up from her sketch book and looked across at me, there was a strange fire in her eyes.

"Making Roxas _better_." She added air quotes to the final word.

I frowned, keeping my eyes on the pencil scratching against paper. "He's my friend, and even though I would never say it to his face, I love the kid. Taking care of him is the least I could do after I basically forced him into this life in the first place."

"It was still his choice to start on the meth again. He's not stupid, he was raised well..."

I looked over at her with raised eyebrows. She sighed. "Mostly raised well."

"You've been helping an awful lot for someone who thinks it's not important." I muttered while pushing myeslf away from the fence and beginning to walk to my next class, sensing that the bell would ring shortly. Naminé walked up quickly behind me and slipped her hand into mine, because apparently we did that without me having to ask her now. I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and she just smiled. I smiled back, incapable of refraining from doing so.

* * *

There was a subtle knock on the classroom door and then a student, who I assumed was the office lackey for the day walked in and handed a slip of paper to Terra. He read it briefly then walked between a few of the desks of chattering teenagers to the table at the back where Naminé and I sat surrounded by a few of our other friends. He passed the note to her and she read it quickly then stood up and grabbed her bag, she flashed the note at me. She left and went to the office, I frowned momentarily but then Demyx brought my attention back to the work we were supposed to be doing before Terra came over and subtly growled us for being off-task. Naminé returned roughly ten minutes after she had left. Although she had quickly hid the smudging of the little make up she was wearing, I could tell she had been crying, but the look in her eyes flashed with anger. To say the least, I was confused, but bringing up a subject that made her cry of anger in the middle of class probably wasn't the best idea, she would eventually end up using the type of English Terra didn't appreciate in his classroom especially during actual class. We said slurs openly when the rest of the class weren't in the midst of work and he didn't mind. Thankfully, English was our last class of the day, and as soon as the bell rang the class flooded out and dispersed in their directions. Naminé had disappeared so I walked briskly to my car, when I saw her sitting on the front of it with her legs pulled to her chest and her sketchbook sitting on her thighs, I sped up, desperate to know what had made her so emotional.

"What's wrong, Negative Nancy?"

She looked up at me at the same time I looked down to inspect her drawing. "Wow, that's..."

"Dark?" She suggested.

I nodded. "Depressing."

"My parents want to meet up with me."

* * *

"How do I look?"

I gestured for her to spin and she turned reluctantly with rolling eyes. "You look very sophisticated. Achieved." I smiled as she looked at me, her blue eyes eager to roll again.

"Have fun." I said just before there was a knock on the door.

"With my parents? Of course."

"Do you want me to go?" I asked, slowly getting up from the couch and gesturing to my bedroom, that had somehow become something we shared.

She shook her head. "No, stay there. You can meet them."

I flopped back down onto the stain covered fabric and stretched out, getting as comfortable as I could, again she rolled her eyes and gestured for me to sit up. She walked reluctantly to the door and pulled it open, quickly fixing a fake smile onto her face. Two adults walked in and they looked surprisingly more like Naminé than I had expected them to. By the way she had described them I had pictured much more rugged adults who barely knew how to carry themselves with a single ounce of respect for anyone.

"You must be Riku." Her mother said with a familiar tone of affection. I frowned breifly before smiling.

"Yes, pleasure to meet you."

Her dad cleared his throat and stuck out his hand. I shook it tensely and noticed his stern look as he looked not only me over, but the apartment too. Apparently after getting out of jail, he either had a very good eye for poor decoration and upkeep, or he was concerned about his daughter's living space, and from what I can only assume was a very bief re-telling of Naminé's childhood, his concern surprised me. It was fatherly, something I wasn't too familiar with. My father was never around, so seeing actual affection was different.

"You seem like a very respectable man for a teen."

_And you seem like a very respectable man for someone who was in jail and has suffered from drug addiction and being an alcoholic. _"Thank you, Sir."

Naminé smiled shyly, she didn't show any sign of happiness about her parents being there. She didn't even motion for a hug, she barely even acknowledged their existence. Her mother watched her facial expression with a frown.

"Nami, darling, what's wrong?"

She looked up with a nervous smile. "Nothing, nothing is wrong. C'mon, let's go. See you later Riku."

Her mom looked back. "You aren't coming?"

I shook my head. "I have to head out to work."

"It was a pleasure meeting you Riku, thank you for giving our daughter a place to stay while we were in France."

My eyes shot up and I looked directly at Naminé. She was in the middle of giving her father a death glare. Apparently she hadn't intended for me to find out her parents weren't actually drug addicts, nor had they actually gone to prison. What next? Her name was't even Naminé? I felt the anger rising in me,the feeling of betrayal, and the two feelings had been mashed up like a five year old with playdough and shown public. I had shot across the room and pushed not only Naminé, but her parents out the door and slammed it shut behind them. I heard a bunch of mumbling from the side and then her father say something along the lines of waiting in the car. There wasn't any knock on the door, but I knew she was standing on the other side with her cheek against the wood.

"Riku, let me explain."

"Explain what, Naminé? If that's your real name." I growled.

She sighed and I heard her lean against the door and slide down, ending up sitting with her legs pulled to her chest, I leant against the door on my side and ended up in the same position. "My parents weren't in jail. They were just never there...I stayed in our huge family home with maids and butlers running around to take care of me...apparently due to the stress of my parents never being around I had _acquired _an anxiety disorder. I had to go to psychiatric hospital. When I got out, my parents were back, and they said they would take care of me. They said they would be parents, for once in their lives..." She laughed nervously and I could hear the tears choke her up. "They took care of me for a bit but then their work called them overseas and I lived on my own for six months when I was fourteen. They gave me a plentiful supply of money and their friends checked up on me every now and then, but being alone like that was horrible, so I took to the streets. That's where I met people like you and Axel, and the people Roxas socializes with. My parents must've found out my grades were dropping because next thing I know, I'm here and you're giving me the worst tour of a school I've ever had."

I didn't have the urge to let her in, I didn't even want to stand up. For all I knew that whole story was a lie too.

"Look, I wanted to impress you." She let out a miserable excuse for a laugh. "Pretty stupid, huh. I wanted to impress you, by telling you all this shit about my _rough _childhood. When the truth is, I probably had a better childhood than the majority of this fucking town. I grew up in a huge house, with people waiting to do things for me. I suppose I wanted to impress you, by not impressing you." She sighed and I felt the pressure of her leaning against the door disappear. "I'd like it if I could come back and still have a place to stay. They're going to Japan tomorrow and there's no room in their hotel. If not, I'll just go...find somewhere else."

I heard her quietly walk away and rushed to the window that faced the carpark. She walked out into the rain and joined her parents in their car.

"Flash car." I mumbled while pushing myself away from the pane.

I turned non-chalantly and flopped onto the couch as Roxas walked in with Axel tagging behind. The blonde sat down on the chair across from me, Axel walked into the kitchen. "She gone with her parents?"

I nodded with a faint sigh.

"How are they?"

"Not as abusive and drug-addicted as she made them out to be." I grumbled before pushing myself off of the seat and into the kitchen to join Axel.

Honestly, I didn't want to talk about it. Not in the slightest. But Axel would need to know, especially if I was still planning on leaving the apartment before she returned and possibly never coming back. He simply raised his eyebrow at me, giving me time to take a breath and decide when I was ready to tell him. "She lied, but that's not even the worst part. She tried to be someone she wasn't to impress me, to prove that she was worthy. She's just like every other girl at our school. She just wants me, she doesn't want to know me." I frowned and rubbed my temple. "I'll go stay with Sora tonight, alright? Roxas should be fine with you for the night...see you at school."

* * *

The night came and passed, Naminé had apparently made it back to the apartment safe and sound, and a strange wave of relief washed over me when Axel texted me. She and Roxas were curled up on the couch with a half eaten bowl of popcorn on the floor and a large blanket draped over them. Apparently she had broken down and begun crying the moment her parents had closed the door behind them and fled to the safer side of town to their fancy, five-hundred-dollars-a-night hotel. Roxas had chosen to cuddle up with her, and was evidently forced to watch countless hours of chick-flicks till she passed out from either exhaustion or popcorn-overload.

"Are you going to sleep?"

I looked over at Sora who had sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleep from his face, he glanced quickly at the clock on the desk and groaned. I looked up too, there was half an hour till the alarm went off and I was forced to ignore it and go back to sleep, not that I had been asleep in the first place. I perked my eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll change my question. Did you sleep?"

"Not particularly."

I sighed and stood up, pulling off my shirt and walking sluggishly towards his bathroom.

"Who said you could shower first?" Sora called after me, flopping back down onto his back with his arm behind his head. I cracked the bathroom door open slightly and tossed my boxers out to him. He caught it and took a long whiff.

"Your crotch smells good."

"You never told me exactly why you stayed at my house." Sora said as he pulled out of his driveway and begun the drive to my school.

I frowned. "I didn't?"

"No, you tapped on my window, I opened it to see what the fuck you were doing and then you pushed yourself through. Next thing I know, you pulled a couple blankets out of my closet and your wrapped up on the floor like nobodies business. I didn't really have the heart to tell you to piss off."

"Let's be honest, you just wanted to know if I had mysteriously turned up at your window to have sex."

He shrugged. "Maybe, but we can see that that wasn't the reason. So what was it?"

I sighed and drummed my fingers on the glovebox, making a random beat from my head. "She lied to me. I just didn't want to be there when she got back."

"Is this about her parents?" He frowned.

I looked over, my face painted with shock. "You knew?"

He shrugged again. "I did some research, if my boy's going to have a fake girlfriend, I have to know everything about her."

"You knew...and you didn't tell me." I looked over at the dolled up brunette who sat with his hands at 10 & 2 on the steering wheel, and his pompous school-boy uniform pressed neatly to fit his body. "Well, fuck. I thought I could trust my friends."

"Look," Sora sighed while turning down the street that led to my school. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But don't blame all of this on me, fucker. Maybe you should've done a little research yourself."

"You know I don't do research...besides, I didn't think I needed to do any research on her," I glanced out the window up at the cloud-ravaged sky. "I didn't expect her to pull anything like this on me."

Sora's annoying and expensive-looking porsche pulled into the parking lot that was scattered with far less cars than students, many of them rusted and void of any sign of love and care from their owners. I pushed opened the car door, eager to escape the confined space, and honestly, get away from Sora.

"Yes you did." He called just before I closed the door behind me. I looked back over my shoulder, and he could see it in my face. I could deny all I wanted, but he was right, I had expected something like this from the beginning, I knew I would be hurt the same way Kairi hurt me when she left, the difference now was that Naminé hadn't left. She was still here, I had made the mistake of running out on her.

"I hate being wrong."

I didn't see Naminé all day, no doubt she was staying home with Roxas, it was her turn after all. Luckily I had the last class of the day with Axel. I walked into the room early, not expecting anyone to be in there. Axel sat at the back, his legs crossing the gap between two different desks. He had a cigarette in between his fingers but hadn't lit it up. I raised a brow as he turned to face me and glanced down at his smoke. He shrugged and gave me one of those 'haven't-got-a-lighter' looks. I sighed and fished mine out of my back pocket before tossing it to him and walking through the maze of empty desks to the one beside him. He shuffled over slightly so I could pull myself up and put my own feet onto the table opposite. Luckily we were in the English class, lunch wasn't over for another ten minutes, and even if Terra walked in while the two of us were having a smoke, he wouldn't care. Hell, he might even join in. He was a good guy like that, he's that one cool teacher, that despite all the work he makes you do, he makes up for it by being that one guy you can trust, because in reality, he's just like you. Terra was the same way we were when he was in high school, which wasn't even that long ago. He's not that much older than Axel, truth be told. Just as we began to walk over to the window to toss our cigarettes out onto the damp concrete, Terra walked in with a stack of books towering in front of him, threatening to topple to the ground if he took the wrong step. Though he couldn't see us, and we hadn't said a thing, the smell of tobacco must've been strong enough because he called the two of us to help him set the books into piles on each set of desks. We walked over and picked up a couple piles each and set them onto the tables, Terra took the opportunity to pull out his whiskey bottle and pour himself a small drink, every time Axel and I would perk up in hopes of a free drink, Axel usually got one, but Terra still wasn't the type to openly give an under-age a drink. I could respect that, I suppose. He sat behind his desk at the front of the class, swishing the liquid around while he watched us do his dirty work with narrowed eyes and a stern face. It was the look he usually wore when thinking.

"What's going on Terra?" I asked, looking at him with a questioning gaze.

"How did you guys get into the class?" He frowned.

Axel looked over his shoulder. "I found my key."

"The one that you lost?" He laughed. "It's about time you found it, I wasn't gonna give you another one."

I shot a glance at both of them. "Can I have a key?"

Axel had a smug smile and he walked up to dangle the key in front of my face. I rolled my eyes but decided to humor him by snatching at the key with grabby fingers and completely missing. My eyes turned to Terra as he made a loud racket fishing through one of his drawers. He was going through the endless piles of profanity-scribbled paper and eventually pulled out a single key. He plucked off the wad of gum that was sticking to the end and flicked it, the gum landed on the desk Axel was standing by and almost on instinct he reached out, picked it up and dropped it into his chompers. He chewed on it eagerly and grinned at my disgusted face. Terra tossed the key to me and I pulled out the chain around my neck, another key fell out, it was what Sora had decided to call a Keyblade, it didn't unlock anything, well, not anything we had. Sora had found it one day on the island lying underneath the Paopu tree and I could never bring myself to part with it, so now it hung from a chain around my neck and was joined by a key to the English room. I smiled before tucking it back under my shirt and continuing to place the books onto the tables.

"Are you gonna come home?" Axel asked once we sat down at our desk and everyone had flooded in to class. Terra was talking about something English at the front of the class but there was a hint in his voice that he wanted more whiskey, and a certain aspect to the way he was carrying himself - that only Axel and I could spot - that was screaming out the fact that he'd already had too much. I sighed and looked over at my red-head friend, who took the opportunity of Terra's borderline drunkness to sit back with his feet on the table and his eyes focused on his phone.

"I suppose so. I was starting to like being with Sora though. It was fun." I smirked when he looked up with a hurt expression.

"_No, _you're my boyfriend." He teased.

I looked up at him from beneath my lashes. "Oh yeah, how bad do you want me?"

"Real bad." He replied seductively.

Demyx reached back and hit the two of us in the back of the head. "Stop acting all gay with each other."

"Why, you gettin' hot and bothered?" Axel chuckled.

Demyx rolled his eyes and gave us both his middle finger.

"There's a show tonight." I mumbled.

Axel sat up slightly and readjusted his shirt. "Yeah?" He frowned, still with his eyes on his phone. "Where?"

"Brokendown Ponies are playing at Old Blue."

"What about Roxas?"

I frowned. "What about him?"

"He can't come to the show with us, especially Old Blue."

"He can take care of himself." I grunted.

He raised an eyebrow. "There are people there who will carelessly set him up with drugs. We're trying to keep him away from the stuff, not introduce him to new sources."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll go by myself."

"And when the show is over, where will you be sleeping?"

I shrugged and he responded with a sigh. "You can't just run away whenever you get heartbroken."

"I don't, usually I'm the victim. The other person runs away."

"And how does it make you feel when they run away?"

I looked at him, mulling over the question silently. "Like somebody ripped my heart out and stabbed it till the numbness took over everything and pain simply became yet another emotion I could shove back into my closet of skeletons."

"How about, now that you're the one running away, you break that habit. Stop running away, turn around, and come back."

"I appreciate your concern, Axel, but I think I know how to live my own life."

"No," He murmured, sliding his phone into his pocket, picking up his school bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "You don't."

He stood up and walked to the door, just as Terra begun to ask where he was going, the bell rang and he walked out without a word, the rest of the class following after Terra had given them a nod of dismissal. I saw a small note on the table where Axel had been sitting, I didn't even notice him write it, but I reached over and picked it up.

_Fix shit. It's what you're good at._

* * *

So, yeah. Nami is a liar. I don't know, I was at a loss for ideas, thought it would be exciting to mess things up a little. Please read and review! :)


	5. Chapter 5: Ring

**A/N: **Again, this took a long time. More apologies, but like I said in the last chapter I've been extremely busy lately with school. I tried to work on this as much as I could over the last couple of weeks and finally I got to a point where I just thought 'perfect, I'll end the chapter here' so I did! Also, I've completely lost track of the timeline in this story, so a few of the details are going to be messed up. I won't point them out, but they're there and I'm aware. Thanks a lot for reading this, I love you all.  
**Reviewer's Section: **Thank you _Soul of Me _(again) and _threefourtyeight _for reviewing the last chapter! Again, it really makes me inspired to write the next chapter, knowing that at least one person is reading this just makes my day. **Re:****Soul of Me:** If it breaks your heart everytime he compares Naminé to Kairi...then I'm sorry about this chapter. Thank you again for reviewing this for each of the chapters I've written. **Re:threefourtyeight:** Thank you! (: I have been writing for an awfully long time, and with practice I suppose my ability to write has gotten better, it's not at the highest in can be though, but I have plenty of years to refine that skill. Thank you very very much, again, and I hope you continue to love this story through to the very end because as long as you all have "faith" in me, I plan to power through and finish each chapter to the best of my ability.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, nothing at all. Also, if you haven't noticed, there's swearing and all that nonsense. Brief mentions of the TV shows _Supernatural _and _House. _I don't own those either, but I damn sure wish I did.

* * *

"Oh look, you're still in my house...eating my food this time. Great." He dropped his keys onto the coffee table and stood to the side of me looking down, he was mentally fighting the urge to tap his leather-covered toe on the wooden floorboards.

"There's twenty dollars on the table." I mumbled in reply.

Sora glanced across the hall into the kitchen and nodded when he saw the money. I held the spoon up to my mouth, waiting for Castiel to finish his sentence before sticking the cereal in. I had a tendency to spit out things when I laugh and Castiel – that silly rebellious angel – made me laugh so much it's crazy.

"Eating my cereal and watching my Supernatural boxset. On my TV." He frowned and shook his head. "How the fuck did you get into my house?"

I didn't bother looking up, my eyes still on Sam and Dean slaying demons on the screen.

"Vanitas."

"Right. I thought we had established you'd go back to your house today. It was a one night thing."

"I was, but then I changed my mind."

"Bitch, get your ass off my bed and go get that girl." He bent over and stopped Supernatural. I looked up with my jaw at my feet and then sighed.

"Fine. Just let me finish my cereal."

He looked at me with his 'are-you-serious' face and pulled the bowl from my hands and placed it down onto his desk. "Let's go." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of his house and to his car.

"You don't need to give me a ride in your car. I can walk."

He chuckled. "Sure, I let you walk, where will you end up? You won't go to your apartment, that's for sure."

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly buckled myself in, even I knew that this is what I had to do, Axel had more-or-less told me that and sitting around and sulking in Sora's house with a bowl of artificially flavored cereal sitting on my lap wasn't the way to fix this. The drive was short and I literally could've walked there, but Sora was persistent and even after he had driven me there, he planted his hands onto my shoulders and made sure I walked into the apartment and went straight to Naminé. When I walked in Axel looked up from his seat and without saying any form of greeting he simply frowned at the brunette and shook his head. I shrugged and continued to be pushed into my bedroom. She was no where to be seen but steam was slowly coming out of the gap beneath the bathroom door.

"Naminé?" Sora called out for me.

There was a short pause before the water stopped. "Sora?"

He turned me around to face him and looked me in the eye, he gripped each of my shoulders.

"Do what you gotta do."

He then turned and left the bedroom, Naminé called out for him again and her tone was curious. She walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and her hair pinned up. She frowned while looking around the room and then her eyes fell on me, I was standing completely still beside the door and had yet to make a single noise. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Look who's back."

I scoffed. "You're the one who lied."

"You're the one who left."

She walked to the wardrobe and started picking out some clothes. I watched her, unsure of what I was supposed to say.

"You lied to me," I said again. "That's not something I can just forgive you for. The problem isn't even that you lied, I'm sure the both of us have lied about a lot of things to each other, the problem is _why _you lied."

She turned around after struggling with a bra and some underwear and then let the towel slip down. Even though I was stupidly angry at her, the sight left me hungry for more, I had this sudden teenage urge to jump at her and have my way till the world ended. Her eyebrows waggled at me and she shook her hips, obviously seeing the lust on my face. I pinched my eyes shut and took a deep breath.

"You lied so that I would like you. I never lied about myself to you, from the very beginning I was the most honest I had ever been. With anyone."

"Even Kairi?" She muttered while pulling on an incredibly short pair of denim shorts.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Kairi's not a part of this."

"Really?" She said, her voice rising in pitch. She turned and fished something out of the bedside table. "Because...I found this photo of someone I can only assume is her, and there's a little note on the back...and a ring." She flipped the photo around and sure enough there was a short note in my own easily recognizable hand-writing, and with it in a small box, a ring.

"Do you mind explaining, Riku?"

I flustered for the right words, I had learned early on that I should think before I spoke to any girl, Naminé especially. "I-I have no idea what that is."

She smiled and nodded. "Right, do you want me to read the note? A little reminder, maybe." She cleared her throat. "_Dear Kairi, I love you more than I could ever love another human being._" She looked across at me with raised eyebrows before carrying on. "_I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No, I need to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to keep you safe and I need to have you there by my side if I have any hope of getting out of this alive. My love, will you marry me?_"

"I can explain."

She shook her head again and tossed the note onto the bed. "How much did it cost?"

"What?"

"The ring, you twat. How much did the ring cost?"

I looked briefly down at the floor then looked up, expecting her face to be covered in anger. I took a deep, steadying breath. "I don't remember."

She glared at me, she could tell that I was lying right to her face, but she didn't ask any further.

"Are you mad?" I asked nervously while raising my face to her.

She wasn't looking in my direction, instead she sat on the bed with the note and ring still in her hands, she looked up momentarily to the wall and a couple tears dropped onto the paper.

"No. I'm not mad, you loved her."

_Past tense. _I briefly mentioned in my head. "I still love her."

Her eyes flashed up and she narrowed them unexpectedly. "What?" Her voice was harsh and poisonous. She dragged the word out, making every change in pitch a threat. If she wasn't mad before, she was definitely mad now.

"Did I say that out loud?" I cringed.

She tossed the paper and ring aside then stood up and walked to the door. I reached out to stop her and she hesitated then turned around to face me. "How many times have you said you loved me?" She shook her head. "And everytime I believed you." She laughed. "I'm an idiot."

"No, no you're not." I muttered, grabbing for her wrist.

She looked back again with the door open and Roxas and Axel sitting in the living room, watching us with shocked expressions. Roxas must've just woken up because he had that bed-hair Axel loved to talk about so much when the blondie wasn't around. His eyes were wide and he watched Naminé, confused as to what had made her so angry.

"Naminé, I love you."

"_Too. _You love me _too_." She corrected.

I shrugged. "I can't help it, Kairi and I were together for four years, and you and I have been together for two months!" I was becoming frustrated, she could see it and it only made her even angrier. Truth is, I had forgiven her for lying to me the moment she had stood up and walked away from the apartment door to join her parents, but I doubt she'd ever forgive me for admitting that I was still in love with Kairi.

"We've been together for three months. Exactly three months. Today was our three month anniversary. I know we decided we wouldn't celebrate monthly anniversaries, but I still remember them. There's still a part of me that wishes you'll remember, that hopes I'll wake up with a bouqet of flowers, or even a single white rose and a simple note that says 'I love you' on it."

I sighed.

"I'm sorry." I plead. "Is that not enough. Forgive and forget, right?"

"Ugh." She immediately stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

I ran both of my hands through my hair and let out a yell of frustration. Axel and Roxas sat quietly, waiting for me to calm down.

"You 'dun goofed."

I shot a death glare at Roxas and walked back into my bedroom.

Hours passed but still no sign, she didn't call any of us and I constantly texted Sora and our other mutual friends in hopes that she had gone to stay with them. None of them had any idea of her whereabouts and I was starting to freak out. I sat in the living room sitting up straight on the couch staring out the window in hopes she would turn up and enter the apartment building. I must've passed out at some point because rays of sun burst in through the window and blinded everything. Roxas sat across from me, just watching as I slowly rose and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. My heart thudded and I looked across at him anxiously. He shook his head.

"Sorry. No word."

I sighed and fell back onto the couch, chewing my nail sub-conciously. I didn't even bother mentioning that I wasn't at school and today was the last day of the semester. I was going to flunk all of my subjects anyways. Unless of course the assignments Naminé had done for me was enough to pass, which I doubted. Again, hours passed without a single call or message and shortly, Axel had returned from school and he walked in with a grim expression. I looked over at him as he entered, not even letting me get my hopes up. She wouldn't have gone to school, just in case I was there, and honestly, I hadn't bothered arriving at school in case she was there. Right now, I didn't want to see her, but I so desperately wanted to know that she was alright.

I sighed and pushed up off the couch and begun getting ready for a dreary afternoon of work.

* * *

Just like that another day passed without any word. Twenty four more hours without knowing if the girl I loved was alive or not. One day turned into one week. One week turned into two and my worry was becoming replaced by depression. I was just like Roxas a couple months ago. I had tunnelled into this pit so much deeper than the one Kairi had abandoned me in.

"You have to go outside."

Roxas bent over and picked up one of my empty 2-minute noodle cups then tossed it into a plastic bag he held in one hand.

"No I don't." Scoop into my mouth.

He looked over with raised eyebrows. "You can't sit inside eating ice cream for the whole winter break."

"Yes I can."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, get fat. I don't care."

"Metabolism, fucker. Mine's ridiculous."

He scoffed and walked out of the bedroom, leaving me to the comforts of my bed and the hilarity of Dr. House's witty sarcasm on the plasma before me.

An hour after Roxas left the room – a whole episode of House – a tall, annoying and arrogant red head walked in. He had a cocky smile pulled back over his perfect pearly whites, two cold bottles of beer and a party-sized packet of potato chips.

"Hey little man." Axel greeted before handing a beer to me and cracking open his own.

"I'm taller than you."

He looked up with a smirk. "I wasn't referring to your height." He waggled his eyebrows and I scoffed in mock disgust. "Seriously, twinkle toes, what's eating ya?" He frowned and reached out for my hands.

I frowned in confusion before realizing I had sub-conciously picked up the engagement ring and begun playing with it between my fingers. I stared at it longingly. Before Naminé had brought it out, I had forgotten all about it. Towards the end of Kairi and I's quickly dissipating relationship (the dissipating part something I was vividly unaware of) I had intended to sweep Kairi off of her feet and marry her (with her adoptive father's permission of course). I still remember the look in her father's eye, he looked at me lovingly, like I was a son to him (which I practically was). He had thought Kairi would've told me herself; they were leaving. The next day.

"If it's worth anything, I would've been honored to have you as my son-in-law."

I choked up at the memory because with it came a tidal wave of other happy memories and a sudden realization dawned on me. All of the happy memories I had with Kairi were from before we had started dating. It was like our whole relationship had been one-sided, and that realization killed me. I broke. Though by now you'd probably expect me to have bounced up and started throwing things at walls; I didn't. Instead, I fell back into Axel, my head lying in his lap. Rather than making the moment sexual, he just held me, he brushed the hair from my face and mentally made the terrible decision of mopping up the water works.

* * *

The last week of break flew by without a single whisper from Naminé. I eventually found the strength to actually leave the apartment and had even gone to work the day before school started up again. Unfortunately I had been met with piles of paper, art and various other documents to sort through, needles to clean and sterilize as well as floors to mop, tables to clean and windows to wash until they sparkled in the bleak Winter doom-and-gloom sun. We pulled up into the school parking lot and it had felt like Naminé had never existed. There was even a brief moment where I felt inclined to ask Roxas if she even _had _existed. Girls flocked around the car and it felt like the first day of the year again. Axel wound the window down and asked politely for them all to step away from his 'baby' and they did so willingly. Immediately I gave up any hope of Naminé being at school, she had probably jetted off to join her parents half way around the world. With that in mind, I was extremely surprised to see Xion walking with none other than my beautiful blonde.

"Is that...?" Roxas began with a frown.

"Naminé!" I called out.

Xion glanced back at my voice and nudged Naminé softly, she whispered something in the girl's ear and the two giggled before Naminé turned slightly and kissed her on the lips. It was a passionate kiss, and the teenage boy inside me was going wild. They then slipped their hands together and let their fingers twist into each other's and they continued walking.

"Dude..." Roxas mumbled, "Your girlfriend's a lesbian."

Right then would probably be the perfect time for dramatic, sappy music to start playing, I would've turned around and walked away into the pouring rain. Maybe I'd have contemplated suicide, stood at the roof of a building and then Naminé would appear at the bottom begging for me to come down and repeatedly telling me that she loved me and she always will. Unfortunately this isn't some stupid old-woman's morning soap opera, nor was it a teenage love movie where everything is happy in the end. Instead, the two walked away hand-in-hand and their public show of affection was backed up with several wolf-whistles and a rather frisky comment from Axel that would've deserved a fist to his jaw had I felt like punching someone would be the only way to release my frustration at the time. He did however get a smack over the back of the head from Roxas, which was enough to satisfy me for the time being. Instead I carried on through out the day and tried my best to ignore the fact that I may or may not have completely changed a girl's sexual preference.

"There's other fish in the sea."

Roxas shot a glare at Axel and he immediately shushed. We were walking across the field towards the back alleyway, luckily Terra had let us out early. Apparently the word of Naminé and I's break-up spread like wildfire and now the girls were going wild again, if not wilder than they were before. I glanced back just as the bell went and students started to flood out of class, we started walking faster and just as we arrived at the canopy of trees that covered the entrance of the alleyway, Axel pulled out his packet of smokes and passed one to me. I nodded in acknowledgment and stuck the cigarette into my mouth. He leant over and lit it up for me and smirked before lighting up his own. Roxas walked under the trees and into the alleyway and we heard him mumble as if he was talking to something.

"Oh, hello..." He said faintly.

Axel and I frowned at eachother then walked in, the cigarette nearly fell from my mouth when I saw who Roxas had been talking to. Naminé sat on the fence and Xion was resting in a branch of the tree above her. They were in the middle of talking and Naminé still had a fading smile on her face. The happiness on her face hit home, and I couldn't help from being breathless and wanting to bend over and clutch at my stomach. Instead, I smiled politely at her, turned immediately around and walked out of the alleyway. Axel and Roxas didn't know what to do, they either endured the awkward silence with Naminé or follow me and get chased around by girls. Naturally, Roxas jumped at the opportunity to hang out with Xion, much to Axel's hidden disappointment. Axel however, like the great person that he is, followed me. We walked together for a few minutes, completely ignoring the growing crowd of students following us from behind. We didn't even bother trying to find a way to ditch them, at that moment the key for the English room around my neck felt heavy. I sighed and looked back over my shoulder. The crowd behind wasn't too big, so I slipped a quick look at Axel and pulled out the chain around my neck, flashing the key at him. He nodded and just like that we split in two seperate directions; him to the left and me to the right. I glanced back every few seconds and slowly the group of people that had made the tough decision to follow me dwindled down till there was one girl who left immediately simply because everybody else had. I smirked and worked my way from the hallway I had ended up in to the one class I spent the most time in over the last however-many-years I've been forced to learn at this school. I glanced through the glass panel in the classroom door – empty – I fished out the key from beneath my shirt and pulled the chain from my neck. Quickly, I stepped in and weaved between the desks to the back of the classroom, shortly after Axel walked in and locked the door behind him. I immediately pulled out the packet of cigarettes from my chest pocket and lit one up. He leant across the desk and pulled out one for himself, I held the Zippo up and lit the end for him. He smiled as a thank you and I leant back. He smirked and raised his eyebrows before pushing himself off the desk and walking to the front of the classroom. He dug around beside Terra's desk for a moment before snapping back up straight with two bottles of beer in his hand. I frowned.

"How did you know that was there?"

He smiled and walked back. "Magic." He passed one to me and for a moment I considered the possibility of Axel actually being magic, because the bottle he passed me was ice cold. Little drops of perspiration were growing on the brown glass, then the gears in my head turned and everything clicked into place.

"That asshole has a mini fridge."

Axel raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Yeah he does. Surprised you didn't already know. You think our man Terra would drink _cold _beer? He's not an animal, Riku."

I rolled my eyes and took another long sip. "I never considered him to have hidden a mini fridge under his desk."

"Couple of his drawers are filled with porn magazines, chocolate bars and cigars. You'd be surprised how much you find out when you spend countless lunchtimes in here on detention."

"You my heteroflexible friend, are a genius."

"Oh shucks, thanks."

We spent who knows how long in English that day. Turns out Terra had already left for the day and had no other classes, we simply ignored the school bell and cleared his desk out of everything but the magazines, although I suspect Axel may have sneaked one when he went to the bathroom. Eventually it started getting dark outside and we didn't have any choice but to get out before the cleaners locked the whole school up for the night, plus, Roxas – being the forgetful idiot that he is – probably forgot his key to the apartment. So we packed up the little things we had brought in and walked out to the parking lot. Axel's car was the only one left and we walked over to it in the dim glow of the lamp posts that were scattered around us.

* * *

"Are you going to at least try and talk to her?"

Sora sat across from Roxas at the kitchen table and he was briefly glancing up at me from his bowl of macaroni and cheese. His eyebrows were raised and if I wasn't currently infatuated with anything and everything relevant to Naminé I would've held that pretty boy face in my hands and kissed him till the sun rose. I didn't say anything and he sighed then let his eyebrows fall into a frown, but again the expression made the blue of his eyes pop and sparkle in the kitchen's light.

"You're gorgeous, you know that?" I muttered at him, half in an attempt to change the subject, half to simply state the fact that he was good-looking.

He rolled his eyes in response and scooped up a few pieces of macaroni. I smirked and picked up my own bowl from the kitchen counter and walked around to the living room, plonking myself down beside Axel on the couch and considering what would happen if I tried to pry the remote from his hands. Every scenario ended with macaroni and cheese on the floor, not that I particularly wanted to eat the microwaved dinner, but I simply wasn't in the mood to clean up any messes at the moment. To be honest, I still had the whole mess that is my life on the forefront of my mind.

"You didn't answer my question."

"What was it?" I asked.

"Riku, don't fuck with me."

I sighed and got myself more comfortable on the couch. "No. I'm not going to try and talk to her. I would say she's over-thinking this, but she's not. I was genuinely in love with Kairi."

"You _were._"

I chuckled. "The funny thing is...I still do love her. I'd do anything to have her back."

"Anything?" He frowned.

"Anything."

"Get in the car, drive to Xion's house, and tell Naminé you don't love her. Then I'll believe that you still love that bitch of a girl you used to date."

* * *

**A/N: **So, yeah. That happened. Hope you liked it :) It's not as good as the other chapters. Review please.

Love you.


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